Conscious Beauty And Beautiful Minds: Interview w/ Victoria Fu and Gloria Lu of ‘Skincare Decoded’
After years of working in the industry for Loreal, one of the world’s largest beauty conglomerates, formulation chemists Victoria Fu and Gloria Lu left to launch Chemist Confessions. From what started as an Instagram account grew into a wildly popular blog, podcast and product line. Victoria and Gloria believe that by making skincare science fun, approachable, and transparent, they can empower individuals to make the best decisions for their skin. In their new book, Skincare Decoded, the chemists breakdown the overly complex skincare industry by dividing it into three sections:
- A focus on the most important skincare fundamentals including cleansing, moisturizing, and sun protection
- A deep dive into skincare active ingredient superstars including Vitamin C, alpha hydroxy acids, niacinamide, retinol, and other great ingredients backed by scientific evidence
- An overview of routine guidelines for different skin types and skin concerns
What was the first beauty routine you adopted as a child or teenager? Which emotions do you connect with this memory?
Gloria:
My first beauty routine was simple and included an Aveeno SPF moisturizer and an Origins cleanser that I stole from my sister… Oh, and Biore blackhead strips! I had no idea if any of it was any good, but I remember those Biore blackhead strip + sheet mask slumber parties with my girlfriends very fondly.
Victoria:
I really didn’t get into a skincare routine until I started dealing with acne in high school. So, I’ve tried the gauntlet of acne products like the St. Ives Apricot Scrub, Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash, and the Clean and Clear Persa-Gel 10. Honestly, the emotions tied to those memories are a mixed bag of nostalgia, stress, and slight fear of how bad my routine was. I was really trying to perform an exorcism on my acne.
CONSCIOUS BEAUTY — What meaning do you give this term?
We think Conscious Beauty means two things: One, researching and choosing products that use safe, effective ingredients backed by science, and two, thinking about sustainability in beauty in a well-rounded way, including ingredient source, packaging, and the manufacturing process.
Which aspects of sustainability in beauty are especially important to you?
The aspects of sustainability in beauty that are important to us are mainly the efforts around reducing virgin plastic use and we are all for the incorporation of PCR (Post Consumer Resins) into cosmetic packaging.
When do you consciously feel beautiful?
Gloria:
I consciously feel beautiful after a good, full nights sleep.Victoria:
Similar to Gloria, I consciously feel beautiful when my lifestyle is well-balanced with good sleep, a healthy diet, an active lifestyle, etc. It sounds vanilla, but it recently feels like a luxury when we’re running a startup.
Did your approach to beauty change within the last 1–2 years?
Gloria:
For me, I’ve really perfected my cleansing, soothing, and moisturization game. Working in the industry means that we’re constantly trying new products and active ingredients. What that means is I am prone to accidentally irritating my skin. So I have really honed in on a few pieces of my “must have” products and stuck to a relatively simple routine on my “off days.”Victoria:
In the past 2 years, it’s been about gaming my routine. We have to try a lot of new products and it’s important to have the foundation needed to offset those trial products, so that my skin stays healthy and acne free, while still assessing all the new stuff. For every category: cleanse, moisturizer, treatment, sunscreen, I have my go-to’s so I’m a lot better at interchanging (carefully) without having to troubleshoot too many skin issues.
How would you like to see the image of beauty change within the next 5 years?
We think it’s heading to a great direction! We love that more and more brands are embracing a more “natural” look and how diverse beauty can be. We would hope that less brands go the highly photoshopped route pushing an impossible, unrealistic vision of “perfection”.
What or who inspires your beauty routine?
The Chemist Confessions community! We love that our community of skincare enthusiasts share product finds and their experiences so candidly. We learn a bunch from them too :)
What is your best beauty advice to others?
Consistency is key and so underrated! Those skincare serum results you hear about, “reduces your wrinkles by x% in 8 weeks” is after diligently using the product once or twice a day every day. The reality is a simple 3 step routine you stick to everyday is much more important than 10 products that you remember to use every other Wednesday.
THANK YOU!
Follow Chemist Confessions on Instagram.
Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on CONSCIOUS BEAUTY:
Hello! I am a serial entrepreneur with more than 2 decades of experience in the health & beauty industry. This interview series is intended to create awareness about the movement of Conscious Beauty.
We are in a beautiful time of Conscious Beauty — you may have heard of this term, but what does Conscious Beauty mean, and why does it matter?
For us, beauty is a way to love — it is about self-care, art, nutrition, exercise, life, self-love. I invite you to become part of a movement that re-defines beauty. Let’s empower beautiful minds.
Thank you for being the change. I’m looking forward to learn from you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
